Glossier Solution, 4 weeks later | Part II

Disclosure: I am a Glossier Rep, and I received this product as a gift from Glossier. All opinions are my own, and I am not required to post about the brand or its products at any time on any of my digital platforms.

It’s official! Glossier’s newest launch Solution has been on my top shelf for four weeks.

My skin with nothing but a little Glossier Stretch Concealer under the eyes, Priming Moisturizer Rich and mascara, thanks to Solution

You learned from my pervious post that Solution transforms the skin in four weeks, so I wanted to touch base with my readers on how my complexion looks and feels after that time.

After one week…

I never tried a chemical exfoliant before this one, so I was definitely a little nervous to get started. Thankfully, all Glossier products are gentle on the skin and I didn’t have any irritation during the first week of use.

As stated in my first impressions post, I instantly loved the smell of this product; it has a very clean, almost clinical smell, which is reassuring. It also has hints of soothing lavender, similar to that of Glossier’s Priming Moisturizer Rich.

It feels a little tingly, almost stinging (but not burning!) that quickly subsides as it absorbs into the skin. The tingling definitely lessened throughout the week.

Because I was so nervous to try this product, I decided to keep the rest of my routine really simple. Not only did I skip makeup entirely the first two weeks, I scaled back back on skincare.

I nixed my Vitamin C serum (Glossier Super Glow) completely, replaced my Thayers witch hazel toner with a more gentle tea tree water toner from Lush and upgraded from Glossier Priming Moisturizer to PM Rich. Although I’ve been using Solution at night, I’ve been sure to keep apply sunscreen every single day, as chemical exfoliators make the skin more sensitive to the sun.

After two weeks…

I got a little worried between the one- and two-week marks because my skin started to break out pretty badly–at least for me. I hardly dealt with acne growing up, with the exception of the occasional pimple now and then.

Over the summer, I developed a huge problem area on the rightmost section of my forehead/temple, which was still active before I received Solution. I attribute this to a combination of frequent traveling, changes in diet and hormones.

They weren’t the typical, short-lived, easy-to-pop whiteheads I was used to; they were large, painful, under-the-skin bumps that hardly ever came to a head and took weeks to go away. And as soon as I began to tame one, another would pop up.

During the second week using Solution, I developed three spots (one large, two small) on my right temple, two spots on the right side of my forehead, a large spot on my left cheek near my nose and a large spot along the left side of my jaw.

Obviously, this freaked me out because Solution is meant to treat and prevent acne, and it seemed to be doing the opposite. I began to wonder if I was going through a so-called “skin purge” thanks to Solution (much like I did when I first started using Glossier’s Super Pure serum), or if hormones were at play here. Looking back, it was probably a mix of the two.

(For those who are unfamiliar with the term, a skin purge occurs when you introduce a new treatment product to your regime, and it “brings hidden bacteria to the surface of the skin,” per health.com, resulting in a breakout. “After a few uses, your skin adapts to the ingredients and clears up, allowing you to reap the benefits that inspired you to buy the product in the first place.”)

Thankfully, all these spots began to heal–quite rapidly, in fact–towards the end of the two-week mark! I also noticed the pores in my t-zone looked noticeably smaller, dark marks left behind by previous spots were fading nicely, and rough texture from healing spots was softened.

After three weeks…

What a change! At the beginning of the third week, the “skin purge” stopped and I no longer had any active breakouts–including that area on the rightmost side of my forehead/temple that hasn’t been completely clear in MONTHS!

All spots were healing, and the spots on my cheek and along my jaw from Week 2 completely vanished; the spots on my forehead/temple area quickly shrank and were no longer active.

Dark marks left behind by previous spots on the forehead/temple and chin areas, as well as any rough texture, continued to fade and were barely noticeable. Pores still looked small.

Towards the middle/end of the three-week mark, I developed three small bumps: a hormonal one on the chin, and two right next to each other on that forehead/temple area super close to my hairline. Thanks to Solution, none of them came to a head, and all diminished quickly with results apparent overnight.

After four weeks…

Here we are!

I went into week four nearly blemish-free, save for those three healing blemishes leftover the last week. Previous healing spots have also faded almost completely, and my pores are barely-there.

Although I’ve worn makeup a few times in the third a fourth weeks, I kept my skincare routine relatively simple. I used a mild detox mask (Glossier Mega Greens Galaxy Pack) twice, as well as a few moisturizing sheet masks from Red Earth, during the fourth week, and didn’t have any bad reactions.

Otherwise, I made sure to keep my skincare routine from Week 1 consistent throughout the other three weeks.

Now that the four weeks are up, I’ll be reducing my Solution usage to every other day, and using Thayers witch hazel toner on the days in between in place of both Solution and Lush’s Tea Tree Water Toner.

I’ll also be reintegrating Glossier’s Super Pure serum into my routine as needed; I don’t think that will be very often given Solution’s magic powers. But, I *am* going to go another week or two before adding a Vitamin C serum back into my routine.